US defence chief says military has authorisation for strikes on vessels off Venezuela

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that the military has full authorisation to conduct strikes in the Caribbean against vessels allegedly carrying illegal drugs off the coast of Venezuela.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing, Hegseth said the targeted groups had been “designated as foreign terrorist organisations.” He confirmed that at least four people were killed in a strike on Friday, marking the fourth such operation in recent weeks.

Neither Hegseth nor President Donald Trump provided evidence to substantiate claims that the boats were carrying drugs. Last week, Trump told Congress that the United States was engaged in “a non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels, without offering further legal justification.

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Critics have questioned the legal basis for the strikes, noting that such operations are typically within the remit of the US Coast Guard, the nation’s maritime law enforcement agency. Observers suggest the attacks could be interpreted as a test of the limits of Trump’s presidential powers.

”If you’re in our hemisphere, if you’re in the Caribbean, if you’re north of Venezuela and you want to traffic drugs to the United States, you are a legitimate target of the United States military,” Hegseth said.

Trump on Sunday said the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean had halted drug trafficking from South America.

”There’s no drugs coming into the water. And we’ll look at what phase 2 is,” he told reporters at the White House.

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With inputs from agencies